Bioactive peptides derived from the proteins of egg white by means of enzymatic hydrolysis

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the production of ovoproducts containing bioactive peptides from the egg white subjected to enzymatic treatment. Said peptides have an inhibiting activity of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE inhibiting activity) in vitro and/or anti-hypertensive activity in rats and/or antioxidant activity. Said ovoproducts, complete hydrolizates, the fractions thereof with low molecular weight or their constituent peptides could be used as therapeutic substances with ACE inhibiting activity and/or anti-hypertensive activity and/or anti-oxidant activity, either as functional food products, food additives or ingredients or pharmaceutical products for the treatment and/or prevention of hypertension in all its forms in humans or animals and for the treatment and/or prevention of any disorder associated with hypertension in humans or animals.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of co-pending PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/ES2004/070059, filed Jul. 23, 2004 which in turn, claimspriority from Spanish Application Serial No. P200301829, filed on Jul.31, 2003. Applicants claim the benefits of 35 U.S.C. §120 as to the PCTapplication and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 as to said Spanishapplication, and the entire disclosures of both applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SECTOR OF THE ART

The invention consists of the production of bioactive ovoproductsderived from the proteins of egg white. Following an enzymatictreatment, these give rise to peptides with inhibiting activity of theangiotensin converting enzyme (ACE inhibiting activity) in vitro and/oranti-hypertensive activity and/or antioxidant activity, which can beapplied in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

STATE OF THE ART

The role of egg in human nutrition is essential since it constitutes anourishing and healthy food source. The recent development of newbiotechnological and separation techniques permits the fractionating ofdifferent egg components in order to be used with new food or non-foodpurposes, and thus new applications are appearing which contribute toincrease their consumption. So, different companies concerned with theproduction of isolated proteins isolated from egg fractions areinterested in increasing and diversifying the use of some components,such as ovalbumin and ovotransferin. This is the case with industriesconcerned with the production of lysozyme, used as an anti-microbialagent, which obtain other low cost nitrogenated fractions as byproducts,generally destined for animal food or for use as emulsifiers and gellingagents in different foods.

In recent years, functional foods have strongly irrupted in the foodsector owing to the greater awareness of consumers to the relationexisting between diet and health. Within functional ingredients, i.e.,components which, incorporated into the food, provide it with specificbiological activities that go beyond mere nutrition, bioactive peptidesoccupy an outstanding place on account of their diversity andmulti-functionality. Bioactive peptides correspond to fragments that areinactive inside the precursor protein but which can be released by meansof hydrolysis in vivo or in vitro, and in this way exert differentphysiological functions in the organism. Since their discovery in 1979,peptides have been described derived from food proteins with differentbiological activities: anti-hypertensive, anti-thrombotic, opiacious,antioxidant, immuno-modulating, etc.

Standing out among bioactive peptides are those which exertanti-hypertensive activity by means of regulating the renin-angiotensinsystem (T. Takano, Milk derived peptides and hypertension reduction,International Dairy Journal, 1998, 8: 375-381). The high incidence ofcoronary illnesses in the population is well known, and treatment ofhypertension constitutes one of the strategies most used for reducingthe risk of cardiovascular illnesses. The action mechanism of thesepeptides has been explained by means of inhibition of the angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE), which catalyses the formation of angiotensinII, an octapeptide with a potent vasoconstricting activity and which,moreover, deactivates bradykinin, which produces vasodilation. Differentpeptides have been discovered with ACE inhibiting (ACEI) activityobtained from enzymatic hydrolysates of whey proteins (WO01/85984,Enzymatic treatment of whey proteins for the production ofantihypertensive peptides, the resulting products and treatment ofhypertension in mammals), caseins (U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,941, Method ofpreparing a casein hydrolysate enriched in anti-hypertensive peptides),etc.

Another group of bioactive peptides of great importance is that ofpeptides with antioxidant activity. Ageing and various pathologies(neurological disturbances, cancers, cataracts, etc.) are related tooxidation of cell components such as lipids, proteins or DNA, so theinclusion of antioxidants in the diet has a preventive nature. Inaddition to their antioxidant activity, these compounds can prevent theoxidation of fats, thus avoiding the appearance of disagreeable odoursin food. Some researches have demonstrated the capacity of differentproteins and hydrolysates of them to exert an antioxidant action, eitheracting as scavengers of free radicals (K. Suetsuna, H. Ukeda and H.Ochi, Isolation and characterization of free radical scavengingactivities peptides derived from casein, Journal of NutritionalBiochemistry, 2000, 11: 128-131) or inhibiting enzymes related to theoxidation of fats (S. G. Rival, S. Fornaroli, C. G. Boeriu and H. J.Wichers, Caseins and casein hydrolysates. I. Lipoxygensase inhibitoryproperties, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2001, 49:287-294). It has to be highlighted that studies of thestructure-activity, relation of ACEI peptides and antioxidants haverevealed a characteristic common to both: the importance of certainhydrophobic amino acids in these two biological activities (H. M. Chen,K. Muramoto, F. Yamauchi, K. Fujimoto and K. Nokihara. Antioxidativeproperties of histidine-containing peptides designed from peptidefragments found in the digests of soybean protein, Journal ofAgricultural and Food Chemistry, 1998, 46: 49-53).

Standing out among the strategies most used for obtaining activepeptides for food use, are enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentationprocesses. Moreover, in the last few years different technologicaltreatments have been put forward for the functionalisation of proteins.The use of high hydrostatic pressures as a physical method ofdenaturalisation has the result of modifying non-covalent bondsresponsible for the structure of the proteins, giving rise toconformational changes leading to an unfolded state. Various studieshave demonstrated that proteolysis is accelerated and differenthydrolysis products appear under high pressure conditions, in comparisonwith what occurs at atmospheric pressure (F. Bonomi, A. Fiocchi, H.Frøkiaer, A. Gaiaschi, S. Iametti, C. Poesi, P. Rasmussen, P. Restaniand P. Rovere, Reduction of immunoreactivity of bovine β-lactoglobulinupon combined physical and proteolytic treatment, Journal of DairyResearch, 2003, 70: 51-59). It must also be borne in mind that themajority of enzymes maintain their activity up to 400 MPa, becominginactive at higher pressures. Nevertheless, the production of bioactivepeptides under high pressure conditions has not been described in theliterature.

Unlike other food proteins, there exist very few studies related tobioactive peptides derived from egg proteins, even though egg is a veryimportant source of nitrogen in the diet. H. Fujita, K,. Yokoyama and M.Yoshikawa (Classification and antihypertensive activity of angiotensinI-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides derived from food proteins,Journal of Food Science, 2000, 65: 564-569) found ACEI activities inovalbumin hydrolysates with pepsin and thermolysin with values of IC₅₀(concentration which inhibits 50% of the enzyme's activity) of 45.0 and83.0 μg/ml respectively. These authors isolated six peptides with ACEIactivity starting from the hydrolysate with pepsin, with IC₅₀ valuesfrom 0.4 to 15 μM, though none of them, apart from the dipeptide LW,displayed anti-hypertensive activity in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR). It was postulated that such peptides would be substrates of ACEbut not real inhibitors, and so would display apparent ACEI activitiesin the in vitro assay (H. Fujita and M. Yoshikawa, LKPNM: a prodrug-typeACE-inhibitory peptide derived from fish protein, Immunopharmacology,1999, 44: 123-127). These observations demonstrate that, although it isa good starting point for work, in vitro ACEI activity cannot be thesole criterion for selection, since it does not take into considerationthe physiological transformations in the organism determining thebioavailability of the peptides (digestion and passage through thegastrointestinal barrier in order to reach the blood in an active form).

Two peptides with vasodilatory activity have been described, coming fromthe same region of ovalbumin hydrolysed with different enzymes. H.Fujita, H. Usui, K. Kurahashi and M. Yoshikawa (Isolation andcharacterization of ovokinin, a bradykinin B1 agonist peptide derivedfrom ovalbumin, Peptides, 1995, 16: 785-790) found that ovokinin, anoctapeptide isolated from an ovalbumin hydrolysed with pepsin(FRADHPFL), displayed vasorelaxing activity in canine mesentericarteries, but they did not possess ACEI activity. Ovokinin possessedanti-hypertensive activity when administered orally to spontaneouslyhypertensive rats (SHR) at doses of 100 mg/kg (H. Fujita, R. Sasaki, andM. Yoshikawa, Potentiation of the antihypertensive activity of orallyadministered ovokinin, a vasorelaxing peptide derived from albumin, byemulsification in egg phosphatidyl-choline, Bioscience Biotechnology andBiochemistry, 1995, 59; 2344-2345). N. Matoba, H. Usui, H. Fujita and M.Yoshikawa (A novel anti-hypertensive peptide derived from ovalbumininduces nitric oxide-mediated vasorelaxation in an isolated SHRmesenteric artery, FEBS Letters, 1999, 452: 181-184), starting from ahydrolysate of ovalbumin with chymotrypsin, purified a hexapeptidecorresponding to a 2-7 fragment of ovokinin (RADHPF, ovokinin (2-7))which exerted a potent vasodilatory action in SHR at doses of 10 mg/kg.

Later on, analogues of ovokinin (2-7) were synthesised with the aim ofincreasing its anti-hypertensive activity. Among them, RPFHPF and RPLKPWrespectively displayed 10 and 100 times more activity than ovokinin(2-7) following administration to SHRs (minimum effective doses of 1 and0.1 mg/kg) which was attributed to a greater resistance of the digestivetract to proteases (N. Matoba, Y. Yamada, H. Usui, R. Nakagiri and M.Yoshikawa, Designing potent derivatives of ovokinin (2-7), ananti-hypertensive peptide derived from ovalbumin, BioscienceBiotechnology and Biochemistry, 2001, 65: 736-739 and Y. Yamada, N.Matoba, H. Usui and K. Onishi, Design of a highly potentanti-hypertensive peptide based on ovalbumin (2-7), BioscienceBiotechnology and Biochemistry, 2002, 66: 1213-1217). It has to behighlighted that, according to these authors and unlike the majority ofanti-hypertensive peptides of food origin, neither ovokinin (2-7), norits RPFHPF or RPLKPW derivatives possessed ACEI activity. It has beenpostulated that they would lower arterial pressure via their interactionwith receptors of the gastrointestinal tract or due to effects in thecentral nervous system.

Given the high biological quality of egg proteins, it is of greatinterest to obtain bioactive peptides starting from them which, consumedas part of one's diet, would, as well as exerting their basicnutritional functions, also be capable of producing metabolic orphysiological effects useful in maintaining health. The production ofbioactive peptides from egg white proteins would permit new uses to befound for chicken eggs, beyond their classical food value, including theproduction of medicinal and nutraceutical bioproducts. This would helpin the development of healthy, safe and high quality foods, contributingto the utilisation and reassessment of ovoproducts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of the production of ovoproductscontaining bioactive peptides with ACEI activity in vitro and/oranti-hypertensive activity and/or antioxidant activity, by means ofenzymatic hydrolysis of egg proteins.

The bioactive peptides are produced by means of hydrolysis of one ormore proteins, peptides or fragments thereof, containing the amino acidsequence of those bioactive peptides (preferably containing ovalbumin),using enzymes (preferably pepsin) and hydrolysis conditions which permitthe breakage of each protein chain in the right places for theirrelease. They can also be obtained by means of chemical or enzymaticsynthesis or by means of recombinant methods, etc. Said peptides can beconsumed as such, or on the basis of raw hydrolysates, of low molecularweight concentrates or of other active subfractions obtained by means ofsize separation methods or chromatography methods.

As well as forming food products, such hydrolysates, their fractions orthe peptides could also form part of pharmaceutical products. So, theycould help in the treatment and prevention of illnesses, particularly incontrol of arterial pressure. The invention expands the applications ofegg proteins, contributing to their exploitation and reassessment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method for producing active peptides startingfrom egg white proteins. These bioactive peptides are identified withthe amino acid sequences shown in SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2,SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6,SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8 (table 1), some of which possessACEI activity in vitro and/or anti-hypertensive activity in vivo and/orantioxidant activity.

The starting material for the present invention would be any appropriatesubstrate comprising one or more proteins or peptides, of animal orplant origin or coming from microorganisms, and which contain the aminoacid sequence of the bioactive peptides of interest (SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1,SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5,SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8, table 1),preferably ovalbumin or egg white. Given that they all belong to theovalbumin sequence, it is obvious that any preparation containingovalbumin or peptides or fragments of ovalbumin of any size could beused, whether on their own or mixed with other proteins. For example:pure ovalbumin, egg white and whole egg in its different presentationforms, ovoproducts intended for the catering and restaurant trade,dietary complements for sportsmen, ovoproducts for animal food, etc.

Said starting material is dissolved or dispersed, at a suitableconcentration, in water or a buffer solution, at a suitable pH for theaction of the proteolytic enzyme. Any proteolytic enzyme can be usedcapable of breaking the protein present in the starting material andproviding the peptides of interest, though preferably pepsin at pH2.0-3.0. Proteolytic microorganisms carrying out a fermentation of thesubstrate could also be used.

The hydrolysis conditions: pH, temperature, pressure, enzyme/substrateratio, interruption of the reaction, etc., are optimised with the aim ofselecting the most active hydrolysates. In a particular embodiment,bioactive peptides are obtained using pepsin at pH 2.0, in anenzyme/substrate ratio of 1/100, w/w and carrying out the hydrolysis at37° C. at atmospheric pressure (0.1 MPa), for a period of time between10 minutes and 24 hours, though preferably for a period of time lessthan 3 hours. The use of high hydrostatic pressure, up to 400 MPa,accelerates the hydrolysis of the substrate without inhibiting theproteolytic enzyme and modifies the profile of the peptides obtained.

Next, if it is wished to concentrate the bioactive peptides and giventhat peptides with ACEI activity contain approximately from 3 to 6-7amino acids (A. Pihlanto-Lippälä, T. Rokka and H. Korhonen,Angiotensin-l-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides derived from bovinemilk proteins, International dairy Journal, 1998, 8: 325-331), lowmolecular weight fractions can be obtained from the hydrolysates bymeans of methods such as ultrafiltration, dialysis, electrodialysis withmembranes of the right pore size, gel filtration chromatography, etc. Ina particular embodiment, fractions of the hydrolysates are obtained ofmolecular weight below 3000 Da by means of ultrafiltration through ahydrophilic membrane of 3000 Da. Said fractions display greater ACEI andanti-hypertensive activity than the starting hydrolysates. Starting fromthe low molecular weight fractions of the hydrolysates, activesubfractions can be isolated by means of hydrophobic interactionchromatography, ion exchange chromatography or preferably reverse phasehigh performance chromatography.

In addition to the complete hydrolysates and their fractions, thepeptides shown in table 1 and designated with the SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1, SEQ.ID. No 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5, SEQ. ID.N^(o) 6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8 possess bioactiveproperties, fundamentally ACEI and/or anti-hypertensive and/orantioxidant activity and are also the object of the present invention.Specifically, the peptides identified with the sequences SEQ. ID. N^(o)2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 show a potentACEI activity in vitro and sequences SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 possess anti-hypertensive activity in spontaneouslyhypertensive rats (SHR) but not in normotensed Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY)when administered via the oral route. Moreover, at least the peptideidentified as SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 possesses antioxidant activity towardsfree radicals. It should be emphasised that these are natural peptidesin which few side effects and good tolerance are to be expected.

Likewise, bioactive peptides identified in the hydrolysates (SEQ. ID.N^(o) 1, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID.N^(o) 5, SEQ. ID. No 6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8) can beobtained by chemical and/or enzymatic synthesis of peptides or byrecombinant methods. TABLE 1 Sequences of identified bioactive peptidesYQIGL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1 IVF SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2 RADHPFL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 FSLSEQ. ID. N^(o) 4 FRADHPFL* SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5 YAEERYPIL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6RDILNQ SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 SALAM SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8*Sequence previously identified as ovokinin (H. Fujita, H. Usui, K.Kurahashi and M. Yoshikawa, Isolation and characterization of ovokinin,a bradykinin B1 agonist peptide derived from ovalbumin, Peptides, 1995,16:785-790). It ought to be emphasised that these authors checked itsvasodilatory activity in canine mesenteric arteries but they claim thatit does not possess ACEI activity.

The obtaining of bioactive peptides from hydrolysates of egg white withpepsin has not previously been described even though the in vitro ACEIactivity of ovalbumin hydrolysates had already been demonstrated (H.Fujita, K. Yokoyama and M. Yoshikawa (Classification andantihypertensive activity of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitorypeptides derived from food proteins, Journal of Food Science, 2000, 65:564-569). Egg white turns out to be a cheap and easily accessibleprotein substrate for producing bioactive peptides. Furthermore, nor hadthe in vivo anti-hypertensive activity of ovalbumin hydrolysates beendemonstrated. As already explained, it ought to be emphasised that veryoften many peptides which show themselves to be potent inhibitors of ACEin vitro lose all or part of their activity when tested in vivo, or evenpeptides which in vitro do not display any great activity as ACEinhibitors acquire such activity in vivo owing to the action ofdigestive enzymes (M. Maeno, N. Yamamoto and T. Takano, Identificationof an anti-hypertensive peptide from casein hydrolysate produced by aproteinase from Lactobacillus helveticus CP790, Journal of DairyScience, 1996, 79: 1316-1321).

These ovoproducts: the complete hydrolysates, the low molecular weightfractions thereof, or one or more of their constituent bioactivepeptides (including their derivatives, their acceptable pharmaceuticalsalts and their mixtures), could be used as therapeutic substances withACEI activity and/or with anti-hypertensive activity and/or withantioxidant activity. Said ovoproducts can be subjected to a heattreatment, such as pasteurisation, or be subjected to drying,freeze-drying, etc., in order to be used as functional food products,food additives or ingredients, or pharmaceutical products, for thetreatment and/or prevention of arterial hypertension in all its forms,mainly in human beings, through also in animals. The quantity ofhydrolysate, low molecular weight fraction, peptides, their derivativesor pharmaceutically acceptable salts and their mixtures, along withtheir dosage for the treatment of any particular pathology, will varydepending on numerous factors, such as age, severity of the pathology ordysfunction, administration route and frequency of the dose. Thesecompounds can be presented in any form of administration, solid orliquid, and can be administered by any appropriate route, oral,respiratory, rectal or topical, though they are particularly designedfor solid or liquid administration by oral route.

In general, the process of obtaining these ovoproducts: the completehydrolysates, the low molecular weight fractions thereof and theirconstituent peptides, will be able to be optimised by aiming for theproduction of the greatest possible amount of bioactive peptides or forcontrolling as far as possible the appearance of bitterness, normallycaused by a high concentration of intermediate or low molecular weighthydrophobic peptides.

Analytical Procedures

Measurement of the Inhibitory Activity of the Angiotensin ConvertingEnzyme (ACEI Activity)

The inhibitory activity of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) ismeasured in vitro according to the method of D. W. Cushman and H. S.Cheung (Spectrophotometric assay and properties of theangiotensin-converting enzyme of rabbit lung. Biochemical Pharmacology,1971, 20: 1637-1648), later on modified by Y. K. Kim, S. Yoon, D. Y. Yu,B. Lönnerdal and B. H. Cheung (Novel angiotensin-I-converting enzymeinhibitory peptides derived from recombinant human α_(s1)-caseinexpressed in Escherichia coli, Journal of Dairy Research 1999, 66,431-439).

The substrate hippuryl histidyl leucine (HHL, Sigma Chemicals Co., St.Louis, Mo., USA) is dissolved in a 0.1 M borate buffer with 0.3 M NaClpH 8.3 to obtain a final concentration of 5 mM. To 100 μl of substrateare added 40 μl of each of the samples whose ACEI activity it is wishedto determine. The ACE enzyme (EC 3.4.15.1, Sigma) is added, dissolved in50% glycerol and diluted 1/10 in bidistilled water at the moment ofconducting the assay. The reaction is carried out at 37° C. for 30minutes in a water-bath. The enzyme is deactivated by lowering the pHwith 150 μl of 1 N HCl. The hippuric acid formed is extracted with 1000μl of ethyl acetate. Following vortex stirring for 20 seconds, it iscentrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes at room temperature. 750 μl ofthe organic phase are taken and evaporated by heating at 95° C. for 10minutes. The hippuric acid residue is redissolved in 800 μl ofbidistilled water and, following stirring for 20 seconds, the absorbencyat 228 nm is measured in a Dur-70 spectrophotometer from BeckmanInstruments, Inc., Fullerton, USA.

In order to calculate the percentage of ACEI activity, the followingformula is used$\%\quad{ACEI}\frac{{Acontrol} - {Asample}}{{Acontrol} - {Ablank}}*100$

The blank is used for correcting the background absorbency. Thiscontains substrate, enzyme and 20 μl of bidistilled water in place ofthe sample, and the reaction is halted at zero time. The control impliesa hundred percent of the enzymatic action on the substrate in theabsence of inhibitors and contains 20 μl of water in place of the sampleand is incubated the same time as the sample.

The results are presented as the IC₅₀ (μM or μg/ml) or concentration atwhich 50% of the enzyme's activity is inhibited. The concentration ofprotein is determined by means of the bicinchonomic acid (BCA) assay(Pierce, Rockford, Ill., USA) using bovine seroalbumin as reference.

Measurement of the Antioxidant Activity

In order to measure the antioxidant activity, the method developed by R.Re, N. Pellegrini, A. Proteggente, A. Pannala, M. Yang and C. Rice-Evans(Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cationdecolorization assay, Free Radical Biological Medicine, 1999, 26:1231-1237) is used. The method is based on the disappearance of theradical ABTS^(•+) (2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic)acid) owing to the reducing action of different samples with antioxidantactivity. The radical ABTS^(•+) displays a maximum absorbency at 734 nm.The antioxidant activity is detected by the fall in the 734 nmabsorbency time.

In order to generate the radical ABTS^(•+), the compound ABTS (Sigma),dissolved in water at a concentration of 7 mM, is brought into contactwith 2.45 mM potassium persulphate in a ratio of 1:2 for 24 hours in theabsence of light. After 24 hours, the absorbency at 734 nm is adjustedto a value of 0.70±0.02 with 5 mM of phosphate buffer salt (PBS), 138 mMof NaCl, pH=7.4. In a standard experiment, 1 ml of this solution isadded to 10 μl of the sample (1.5 mM) dissolved in 0.02 M sodiumphosphate buffer, pH=6.5 The experiment is conducted in triplicate, witheach sample being incubated with the radical ABTS^(•+) for 10 minutes at37° C., with readings of the absorbency at 734 nm being taken at 1, 6and 10 minutes. Used as blank is 0.02 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH=6.5and at the same time as the incubation of the samples is carried out,the radical ABTS^(•+) is incubated without any antioxidant agent(control). The antioxidant activity of each sample is calculated withrespect to the absorbency at 734 nm shown by the control. Theantioxidant activity of the sample is expressed in relation to theantioxidant activity of Trolox(6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid) (Sigma),analogous to vitamin E, by means of a TEAC value (Trolox equivalentantioxidant capacity) at a certain time.

Different ways of calculating the TEAC value have been developed. We usethe method described by F. W. P. C. van Overlveld, G. R. M. M. Haenen,J. Rhemrev, J. P. W. Vermeiden and A. Bast (Tyrosine as importantcontributor to the antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma, Chemical andBiological Interactions, 2000, 127: 151-161), which is valid forcalculating the TEAC value of a pure compound, which provokes a decreasein the absorbency which linearly increases as the concentration isincreased. In this case, it would only be necessary to calculate acertain concentration of a compound in order to be able to calculate itsTEAC value.${TEAC}_{compound}\frac{{Variation}\quad{in}\quad{Abs}_{734\quad{nm}}}{0.28045 \times \left\lbrack {{Concentration}\quad{of}\quad{compound}} \right\rbrack}$

The value 0.2845 represents the decrease in absorbency caused by 1 mM ofTrolox.

Isolation of Peptide Fragments by Means of Reverse Phase HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) at the Semi-PreparatoryScale

Equipment is used consisting of two programmable pumps, Waters Delta 600model, an aligned diodes detector model 966, a automatic injector model717 plus, and an automatic fractions collector (Waters Corp, Mildford,Mass., USA). A C₁₈ Prep NovaPack® HR, 7.8×300 mm and pore size 6 μm(Waters) is used, with a C₁₈ (Waters) cartridge as column-guard. Theanalysis is conducted at 30° C. and the detection at 214 and 280 nm. Thedata gathering is done with Software Millennium version 3.2 (Waters).For the elution of the samples, a binary gradient is used consisting ofwater (phase A) and acetonitrile (phase B) with 0.1% TFA in each of themand a flow of 4 ml/min. The gradient of phase B is from 2% to 10% in 15min, from 10% to 20% in 35 minutes, from 20% to 30% in 20 minutes, thecolumn is washed with 70% of B and is finally conditioned under thestarting conditions for 15 minutes. The volume of sample injected is 200μl. Prior to the injection, the samples are passed through a Milliporefilter (Waters) of 0.45 μm.

Analysis by Means of Tandem Mass Spectrometry (Off-Line)

Esquire 3000 ion trap equipment is used (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen,Germany). The sample is injected in the electrospray sprayer at a flowof 4 μl/min, using a type 22 syringe pump (Harvard Apparatus, SouthNatick, Mass., USA). The equipment uses nitrogen as the sprayer anddrying gas, and operates with a helium pressure of 5×10⁻³ bar. The massspectra are acquired in an interval of 50-1500 m/z and at a speed of13000 Da/second. The interpretation of the tandem MS spectra foridentification of the peptide sequences is done with the Biotools 2.1program (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany).

Analysis by Means of RP-HPLC Coupled On-Line to Tandem Mass Spectrometry(RP-HPLC-MS/MS)

Esquire-LC equipment is used (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany).The HPLC equipment (series 1100) consists of a quaternary pump, anautomatic injector, a degasification system for eluents and a variablewavelength ultraviolet detector (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn,Germany) coupled in line to an Esquire 3000 ion trap mass spectrometer(Bruker Daltonik). The column is a Hi-Pore C18 column (250×4.6 mm i.d.particle size 5 μm) (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, Calif., USA).Solvent A is a mixture of water and trifluoroacetic acid (1000:0.37) andsolvent B is a mixture of acetonitrile and trifluoroacetic acid(1000:0.27). 50 μl of sample is injected at a concentration of 1-2mg/ml. A flow of 0.8 ml/minute is used with a linear gradient of from 0%to 30% of solvent B in A in 25 minutes. The eluent is monitored at 214nm by means of mass spectrophotometry under the same conditions as thosestated in the previous section, apart from the fact that the injectionof the sample via the sprayer is 60 μl/min.

Study of Antihypertensive Activity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

The effect is studied of various identified peptides and of someproducts containing them (for example egg white hydrolysed with pepsinfor 3 hours and the fraction of it less than 3000 Da) on the arterialpressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats(WKY) which are the normotense controls for the SHR.

This study is conducted with SHR (10) and WKY of 17-24 weeks old andweight between 300 and 350 g, coming from Charles River LaboratoriesEspaña, S. A. The rats are kept in cages of five by five and maintainedat a stable temperature of 25° C. with light-dark cycles of 12 hours,ingesting freely available water and food. In order to carry out themeasurement of systolic arterial pressure (SAP) “tail cuff” equipment isused (Le5001, Letica) which automatically provides a digital value ofthe SAP and records and facilitates the cardiac frequency of theanimals. Various measurements are made and the average of all of them isobtained in order to achieve a reliable value of the SAP. Beforepositioning the cuff and transducer in the tail of the rats, the ratsare exposed to a temperature of close to 30° C. in order to facilitatedilation of the caudal artery. Also, in order to ensure the reliabilityof the measurement, the animals are made to get used to the procedurefor two weeks prior to conducting each assay in question.

The administration of the products to be assayed is done by means of anintragastric probe in a time margin of between 9 and 10 o'clock in themorning. The SHR used for the study had SAP values of between 230 and280 mm Hg. The WKY used for the study at that moment had SAP values ofbetween 160 and 200 mm Hg. Measurements of the SAP were taken from theanimals periodically, every 2 hours, up to 8 hours post-administrationof the products to be assayed; in addition, a SAP measurement was taken24 hours after the administration of those products. As negative control(in order to establish the circadian variation of the SAP in probedrats) the measurements of the SAP obtained in rats which had beenadministered 1 ml of water by means of intragastric probe were used. Aspositive control, the measurements of the SAP obtained in rats which hadbeen administered 50 mg/kg of Captopril (prototype ACEI drug) by meansof intragastric probe were used. This dose of Captopril was administeredto each rat in a volume of 1 ml. In order to establish the effect of theunhydrolysed egg white on the arterial pressure of the animals, similarassays to those described above were conducted, in which the animalswere treated by the same procedure with 200 mg/kg of previouslyfreeze-dried egg white (reference).

The results obtained are grouped and the mean±the standard error ofmeasurement (SEM) is obtained for a minimum of 9 homogenous assays. Thedata of the treated animals are always compared with the data deemed tobe a negative control. In order to compare them and obtain thestatistical significance, Student's t-test for unpaired data is used andthe difference for values of p<0.05 is considered significant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENT OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin spontaneously hypertensive rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (∘), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□), 200mg/kg of egg white (EW) (×) and different doses of egg white hydrolysate(EWH): 100 mg/kg (♦), 150 mg/kg (▴), 200 mg/kg (▪) and 400 mg/kg (Δ).The data represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals. The abscissarepresents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

FIG. 2 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin spontaneously hypertensive rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (∘), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□) anddifferent doses of the fraction less than 3000 Da of egg whitehydrolysate (F<3000 Da): 25 mg/kg (♦), 50 mg/kg (▴) and 100 mg/kg (▪).The data represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals. The abscissarepresents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

FIG. 3A is a chromatogram obtained using reverse phase high performanceliquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) at the preparatory scale for thefraction less than 3000 Da produced by means of hydrolysis of egg whitewith pepsin for 3 hours, in which 9 fractions (F1-F9) are selected,which were collected automatically. The abscissa represents time inminutes.

FIG. 3B represents the ACEI activity, expressed as the proteinconcentration needed for inhibiting 50% of the enzyme (IC₅₀),corresponding to each of the 9 fractions collected by means of theRP-HPLC at the preparatory scale.

FIG. 4 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin spontaneously hypertensive rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (∘), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□) anddifferent doses of the peptide YAEERYPIL: 0.5 mg/kg (♦), 1 mg/kg (▴) and2 mg/kg (▪). The data represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals.The abscissa represents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

FIG. 5 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin spontaneously hypertensive rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (∘), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□) anddifferent doses of the peptide RADHPFL: 0.5 mg/kg (♦), 1 mg/kg (▴) and 2mg/kg (▪). The data represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals.The abscissa represents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

FIG. 6 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin spontaneously hypertensive rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (×), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□) anddifferent doses of the peptide IVF: 1 mg/kg (♦), 2 mg/kg (▴) and 4 mg/kg(▪). The data represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals. Theabscissa represents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

FIG. 7 represents the drop in systolic arterial pressure (SAP) obtainedin Wistar—Kyoto normotense rats following administration by means ofintragastric probe of 1 ml of water (∘), 50 mg/kg of Captopril (□), 200mg/kg of EW (×), 400 mg of EWH (•) 100 mg/kg of the fraction less than3000 Da of EWH (F<3000 Da) (Δ), 2 mg/kg of the peptide YAEERYPIL (♦), 2mg/kg of the peptide RADHPFL (▴) and 4 mg/kg of the peptide IVF (▪). Thedata represent the mean±SEM for a minimum of 9 animals. The abscissarepresents time, in hours, passed since the administration.

EXAMPLES OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The following examples illustrate the invention, though they must not beregarded as limiting the scope thereof.

Example 1 Obtaining of Bioactive Peptides, with ACEI andAnti-Hypertensive Activity, Starting from Egg White Hydrolysed withPepsin at Atmospheric Pressure

The hydrolysate was obtained using as substrate chicken egg white comingfrom fresh eggs, separated from the yolk and freeze-dried. As enzyme,pepsin was used (E.C. 3.4.23.1 type A, 10000 U/mg of protein) comingfrom pig stomach (Sigma). The substrate was dissolved in water at aconcentration of 100 mg/ml and the pH was adjusted to 2.0 adding 1N HCl.Pepsin was added (enzyme/substrate ratio 1/100, w/w). The hydrolysis wasconducted at a temperature of 37° C. for 24 hours, at atmosphericpressure (0.1 MPa). The deactivation of the pepsin was achieved byraising the pH to 7.0 with 1N NaOH.

The ACEI activity was measured in aliquots collected following differenthydrolysis times, 0, 30 minutes, 3, 5, 8 and 24 hours. The resultsshowed that unhydrolysed egg white did not possess ACEI activity(IC₅₀>750 μg/ml) but it actively inhibits ACE following differenthydrolysis times with pepsin, reaching major inhibition after 3 hours ofhydrolysis (IC₅₀=200.9±1.5 pg/ml, 55.3±2.1 μg/ml, 72.2±2.3 μg/ml,43.07±1.4 μg/ml, 40.2±0.9 μg/ml, at 30 min, 3, 5 8 and 24 hours,respectively).

The fraction less than 3000 Da of egg white hydrolysed with pepsin for 3hours was obtained by means of ultrafiltration via a hydrophilicmembrane of 3000 Da (Centriprep, Amicon, Inc., Beverly, Mass., USA),centrifuging at 1900 g for 40 minutes. ACEI activity was measured in theretentate (fraction of size>3000 Da) and in the permeate (fraction ofsize<3000 Da). The values of IC₅₀ were respectively 298.4 and 34.5μg/ml. This demonstrates that the permeate possesses approximately 10times more ACEI activity and therefore the activity is fundamentally dueto small size peptides.

The anti-hypertensive activity of egg white hydrolysed with pepsin for 3hours and its fraction less than 3000 Da was assayed in spontaneouslyhypertensive rats (SHR) and in normotense Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY).Different concentrations of both freeze-dried ovoproducts wereadministered to the animals which, in the case of the hydrolysate, werebetween 100 and 400 mg/kg, and in the case of the fraction less than3000 Da between 25 and 100 mg/kg.

FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively show the drop in SAP obtained in SHR atdifferent moments following the administration of different doses of eggwhite hydrolysed with pepsin for 3 hours, and following theadministration of different does of the fraction less than 3000 Da ofthat hydrolysate. The results of these assays with unhydrolysed eggwhite (reference) (200 mg/kg) are represented in FIG. 1. In it, it canbe seen that the SAP values corresponding to the reference are similarto the SAP values of animals which have been administered water. Thesefigures also include the drop in SAP observed following theadministration of Captopril. The Captopril produces a pronounced drop inSAP in the SHR. The drop in SAP is a maximum 6 hours after theadministration of the drug. The egg white hydrolysate and the fractionless than 3000 Da occasion significant dose-dependent decreases in theSAP in the animals. The lower values of SAP following the administeringof egg white hydrolysate and the fraction less than 3000 Da of thishydrolysate is also observed 6 hours after their administration. Thevalues of SAP observed 24 hours after the different administrations aresimilar to those which the animals had before them.

With the aim of identifying the peptides responsible for ACEI and/oranti-hypertensive activity, the fraction less than 3000 Da obtainedfollowing hydrolysis of the egg white with pepsin for 3 hours wasfreeze-dried and redissolved in water at a concentration of 50 mg/ml andfractionated by means of RP-HPLC at the semi-preparatory scale. As shownin FIG. 3A, 9 fractions were collected (after approximately 10-12analyses), which were frozen, freeze-dried and kept at −20° C. untiluse. Each fraction was dissolved in milli-Q water and the ACEI activitywas measured.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the most active subfractions were 6, 7 and 8, whichwere analysed by tandem mass spectrometry in order to determine theirconstituent peptides. With that aim, the peptide subfractions 6, 7 and8, collected by means of preparatory RP-HPLC, were freeze-dried anddissolved at a concentration of 5-10 μg/ml in a mixture of 50%acetonitrile in water containing 0.3% formic acid. The identifiedpeptides are shown in table 2. It must be emphasised that all thepeptides came from ovalbumin. TABLE 2 Peptides identified insubfractions 6, 7 and 8 of the fraction less than 3000 Da of egg whitehydrolysed with pepsin for 3 hours Frac- Experi- Theo- tion mentalretical N^(o). mass mass Protein Position Amino acids Sequence N^(o) 6592.3 592.32 Ovalbumin 212-216 YQIGL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1 6 377.2 377.23Ovalbumin 178-180 IVF SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2 6 854.4 854.44 Ovalbumin 359-365RADHPFL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 6 365.2 365.20 Ovalbumin  99-101 FSL SEQ. ID.N^(o) 4 7 721.3 721.37 Ovalbumin 256-261 ESIINF 7 1001.4 1001.51Ovalbumin 358-365 FRADHPFL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5 7 1152.3 1152.58 Ovalbumin106-114 YAEERYPIL SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 8 757.2 757.41 Ovalbumin  84-89RDILNQ SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 8 1040.2 1040.58 Ovalbumin 243-252 VLLPDEVSGL 8491.1 491.24 Ovalbumin  36-40 SALAM SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8 8 487.1 487.26Ovalbumin 144-147 ELIN 8 1164.2 1164.59 Ovalbumin 125-134 YRGGLEPINF

Example 2 Peptides Obtained by Means of Chemical Synthesis with ACEI andAnti-Hypertensive Activity

All the identified peptides mentioned in Table 2 of example 1 werechemically synthesised by means of the Fmoc method in solid phase with amodel 431A synthesiser from Applied Biosystems Inc. (Überlingen,Germany). The purity of the synthetic peptides was verified by mean ofRP-HPLC-MS/MS.

The ACEI activity of the synthetic peptides was measured. The activityfound is shown in table 3.Standing out for their activity are 8 peptideswith IC₅₀ less than 450 μM and above all the sequences: SEQ. ID. No 2,SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5 and SEQ. ID. No 6 with IC₅₀ less than34 μM. TABLE 3 ACEI activity of peptides identified in subfractions 6, 7and 8 of the fraction less than 3000 Da of egg white hydro- lysed withpepsin for three hours Sequence N^(o) Amino acids IC₅₀ (μM) SEQ. ID.N^(o) 1 YQIGL 173.8 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2 IVF 33.9 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 RADHPFL6.2 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4 FSL 172.9 ESIINF >1000 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5 FRADHPFL3.2 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 YAEERYPIL 4.7 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 RDILNQ 435.7VLLPDEVSGL >1000 SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8 SALAM 229.1 ELIN >1000 YRGGLEPINF>1000

The anti-hypertensive activity of peptides SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. No3 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 were assayed for which different doses of themwere administered to SHR and WKY, the maximum dose used at all timesbeing equivalent in units of ACEI activity to the dose 50 mg/kg of thefraction less than 3000 Da of the egg white hydrolysate. The peptideswere dissolved in distilled water and the corresponding dose wasadministered to each rat in a volume of 1 ml.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show the drops in SAP obtained in SHR at differentmoments, following administration of different doses of the peptidesSEQ. ID. N^(o) 6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2. It can be seenthat the administration of these peptides occasions a significantdose-dependent drop in the SAP in these animals. The drop in SAP ismaximum 6 hours after the administration of these peptides and themaximum drop obtained is also similar for the different peptides.

FIG. 7 shows the changes in the SAP obtained in WKY rats at differentmoments, following the administration of the following compounds: 400mg/kg of egg white hydrolysate, 100 mg/kg of the fraction less than 3000Da of the hydrolysate, 2 mg/kg of peptide SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6, 2 mg/kg ofpeptide SEQ. ID. No 3 and 4 mg/kg of peptide SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2. Alsoincluded are the results obtained following the administration of 50mg/kg of Captopril. It can be seen that none of these compounds modifiesthe SAP of WKY rats when the highest dose used is administered. Theseresults mean that possible undesirable effects of the assayed productson the arterial pressure of normotense subjects can be discarded.

The results presented show that the peptides identified by the sequencesSEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 have a clear andpronounced anti-hypertensive effect which, after their acuteadministration, follows a time course that is similar to theanti-hypertensive effect seen when egg white hydrolysate or the fractionless than 3000 Da of that hydrolysate are administered.

Example 3 Peptides Obtained by Means of Chemical Synthesis withAntioxidant Activity

The antioxidant activity of one of the identified peptides was measured,specifically, the sequence: SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6, mentioned in example 1.The activity found is shown below:TEAC _(YAEERYPIL(1 MINUTE))=0.8TEAC _(YAEERYPIL(6 MINUTES))=1.2TEAC _(YAEERYPIL(10 MINUTES))=1.3

The results therefore show that 1 mg of YAEERYPIL (SEQ. ID. No 6)displays 1.3 times more antioxidant activity than 1 mg of Trolox.

Example 4 Obtaining of Bioactive Peptides Starting from OvalbuminHydrolysed with Pepsin at Atmospheric Pressure

The hydrolysate was obtained using as ovalbumin grade VI as substrate(99% purity) (Sigma). The substrate was dissolved in water at aconcentration of 100 mg/ml and the pH was adjusted to 2.0 adding 1N HCl.In this particular embodiment of the invention pepsin was added (E.C.3.4.23.1 type A, 10000 U/mg of protein) coming from pig stomach (Sigma)at an enzyme/substrate ratio 1/100, w/w). The hydrolysis was conductedat a temperature of 37° C. for 3 hours, at atmospheric pressure (0.1MPa). The deactivation of the pepsin was achieved by raising the pH to7.0 with 1N NaOH.

The measurement of ACEI activity showed that unhydrolysed ovalbumin doesnot possess ACEI activity (IC₅₀>750 μg/ml) but it inhibits the enzymeafter 3 hours of hydrolysis with pepsin (IC₅₀=129.0±0.6 μg/ml). Thehydrolysate thus obtained was analysed by means of RP-HPLC-MS/MS. Thefollowing sequences at least were found: SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1, SEQ. ID.N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 5, SEQ. ID.N^(o) 6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 8. Among them the sequencesSEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. No 5 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6possess IC₅₀ less than 34 μM (example 2). SEQ. ID. No 2, SEQ. ID. N^(o)3 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 also display anti-hypertensive activity in rats(example 2) and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 possesses antioxidant activity towardsfree radicals (example 3).

Example 5 Obtaining of Bioactive Peptides Starting from OvalbuminHydrolysed with Pepsin Under High Hydrostatic Pressure

The hydrolysate was obtained using ovalbumin grade VI as substrate (99%purity) (Sigma). As enzyme, pepsin was added (E.C. 3.4.23.1 type A,10000 U/mg of protein) coming from pig stomach (Sigma). The substratewas dissolved in water at a concentration of 2 mg/ml and the pH wasadjusted to 2.0 adding 1N HCl. Pepsin was added (enzyme/substrate ratio1/20, w/w). The hydrolysis was conducted at a temperature of 37° C. for30 minutes, at different hydrostatic pressures (100, 200, 300 and 400MPa). The deactivation of the pepsin was achieved by raising the pH to7.0 with 1N NaOH.

The treatments with high pressure were conducted in discontinuoushydrostatic pressure equipment (900 HP Eurotherm Automation) withcapacity for 2350 ml, which reaches a pressure of 500 MPa. The highpressure chamber consists of a stainless steel cylinder filled withpressure transmitter medium (water) inside which the mixture ofsubstrate and enzyme is introduced, enclosed in an Eppendorf plastictube without leaving any air chamber. The equipment reaches the desiredpressure at a speed of 2.5 MPa/second and, following treatment, isbrought back down to zero at the same speed. The equipment isaccompanied by an auxiliary bath which, by means of the circulation ofwater through an exterior jacket surrounding the cylinder, permitstreatment at temperatures from −20° C. to 95° C. The temperature of theprocess is controlled by means of a thermocouple submerged in thepressure transmitter medium.

The hydrolysates thus obtained were analysed by means of RP-HPLC-MS/MS.The following sequences at least were found: SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID.N^(o) 5 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 which, as stated in example 2, possess IC₅₀less than 7 μM. SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3 and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6 also displayanti-hypertensive activity in rats (example 2) and SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6possesses antioxidant activity towards free radicals (example 3). Thisexample shows how the use of high hydrostatic pressure permitshydrolysates containing active peptides to be obtained faster than whencarrying out the hydrolysis at atmospheric pressure. It can behighlighted that, under these conditions, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2 was notobtained, which could have an impact on the industrial applicability ofthe hydrolysates.

1. Bioactive product identified from enzymatic hydrolysis of egg whiteproteins characterised in that it a. possesses ACEI activity in vitroand/or anti-hypertensive activity in vivo and/or antioxidant activity,b. has a molecular weight between 365.2 and 1152.58, c. is a peptideidentified with the sequence of amino acids of the following group: SEQ.ID. N^(o) 1, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 6, SEQ.ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o)
 8. 2. Bioactive product identified fromenzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins according to claim 1characterised in that it is obtained by means of a chemical or enzymaticsynthesis procedure or by means of recombinant methods.
 3. Process forproducing any of the bioactive products according to claim 1 and thepeptide of SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, characterised in that a. they are obtainedby hydrolysis of the starting material which would be any suitablesubstrate containing one or more proteins or peptides, of animal orplant origin or coming from microorganisms, preferably ovalbumin or eggwhite, whose sequence of amino acids includes the sequence of aminoacids of the bioactive peptides of interest indicated in claim 1 or andthe peptide of SEQ. ID. N^(o) 2, b. dissolving or dispersing saidstarting material, at an appropriate concentration, in water or a buffersolution, at a suitable pH for the action of the proteolytic enzyme, c.using any proteolytic enzyme capable of breaking the protein present inthe starting material and providing the peptides of interest, thoughpreferably pepsin at pH 2.0-3.0; or proteolytic microorganisms producinga fermentation of the substrate, and d. the reaction time would bebetween 10 min and 24 hours, though preferably a time less than 3 hours.4. Process for producing bioactive products according to claim 3characterised in that high hydrostatic pressures between 100 and 1000MPa are used, preferably 400 MPa, in order to accelerate the hydrolysisof the substrate without inhibiting the proteolytic enzyme and/or modifythe profile of the peptides obtained.
 5. Bioactive peptide identifiedfrom enzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins characterised in thatthe processes indicated in claim 3 are used for obtaining them. 6.Bioactive product identified from enzymatic hydrolysis of egg whiteproteins according to claim 5 characterised in that the startingmaterial is, among others, pure ovalbumin, egg white and whole egg inits different presentation forms, or ovoproducts intended for thecatering and restaurant trade, dietary complements for sportsmen,ovoproducts for animal food.
 7. Bioactive product identified fromenzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins according to claim 6characterised in that it concerns the enzymatic hydrolysate, any of itsfractions, or a purification thereof containing at least one of thepeptides identified with the sequence of amino acids of the followinggroup: SEQ. ID. N^(o) 1, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 3, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 4, SEQ. ID. No6, SEQ. ID. N^(o) 7 and SEQ. ID. N^(o)
 8. 8. Bioactive productidentified from enzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins characterisedin that they are derivatives or pharmaceutically acceptable salts ortheir mixtures of any of the bioactive products indicated in claim
 1. 9.Pharmaceutical composition characterised in that it comprises at leastone of the bioactive products with ACEI activity in vitro and/oranti-hypertensive activity in vivo and/or antioxidant activity productsaccording to claim
 1. 10. Functional food additive, ingredient orsupplement characterised in that it comprises at least one of thebioactive products with ACEI activity in vitro and/or anti-hypertensiveactivity in vivo and/or antioxidant activity according to claim
 1. 11.Functional food product characterised in that it comprises at least oneof the bioactive products with ACEI activity in vitro and/oranti-hypertensive activity in vivo and/or antioxidant activity accordingto claim
 1. 12. A method for the treatment of hypertension comprisingadministering an amount of a pharmaceutical composition according toclaim 9 effective to treat said hypertension.
 13. A functional foodproduct favourable to reducing hypertension comprising a pharmaceuticalcomposition according to claim 9.